


all I want for christmas is you

by kawaikunai



Category: Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID-
Genre: Chiral Cafe AU, Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 02:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9103459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaikunai/pseuds/kawaikunai
Summary: Christmas is hell at the café, but Konoe finds that there may be something to look forward to that day after all.





	

To say Christmas is a rush at the café would be an understatement. The entire floor is packed, with every table reserved throughout the night. Couples are seated together with hands held, enjoying plates of perfectly breaded and fried chicken, as well as sharing slices of strawberry cake piled high with whipped cream. 

Konoe is right in the middle of dinner service, stuck with the evening shift like every employee. Christmas is arguably the most profitable day of the year, so all hands are on deck. He weaves his way around Aoba and Akira with menus and sparkling drinks in hand, refilling the glasses of couples who are too occupied with staring into each others’ eyes to notice. Surprisingly, it’s not the lovers that are the biggest headache at the moment. It’s all the usual bickering of kitchen staff, with Rai and Shiki’s tempers flaring due to the high volume of orders. Bardo has to raise his voice a few times to get the two on track, though they continue to fling dishes at the servers as though they’re in some sort of frisbee match. 

Somehow, the soft holiday music in the background seems to be enough to drown out the chaos in the kitchen, at least for the customers. The cozy interior of the cafe is a stark contrast to the outside, where there’s a fresh layer of snow on the ground, with snowflakes continuing to flutter down from the sky. The cafe is illuminated by strings of lights and cute little wreaths. Even the tables are adorned with tiny christmas tree centerpieces. Konoe and his coworkers are dressed accordingly in santa hats, though admittedly he’s starting to find his is leaving his head hot and uncomfortable, despite trimming holes for his ears to poke through. 

All things considered, he doesn’t think Christmas so bad. There are a lot of strange Two-Cane festivals and customs he’s learned about since leaving his old home in Sisa, but this, he thinks, one of the most pleasant. After all, any holiday centred around spending time with friends and loved ones can’t be all that bad. 

Then again, it’s not like Konoe has a chance to celebrate tonight. Any hopes he’d had about walking around to see the lights or enjoying a big slice of cake himself were dashed the moment he was given his schedule for December. 

After serving a table their freshly roasted chicken, Konoe sneaks a glance at the kitchen, where Bardo is working diligently, dipping more chicken in batter while keeping an eye on the stove. Konoe’s legs are sore from standing and bustling about for the past few hours, but Bardo must not have it any better, slaving over a hot stove all day. Konoe is snapped out of his reverie by the sound of Rai yelling- and a whole, uncooked chicken flying across the kitchen. Bardo immediately snaps to attention and starts to scold him and Shiki once more. Konoe turns to make to check on his customers, mentally berating himself for getting distracted. 

The night flies by with almost dizzying speed, there’s not a moment to spare except for his breaks. Every finished meal leads to a rapid table cleanup before the next customer is seated. Before Konoe knows it, Rin has finally locked up the front doors after thanking the last guests of the night. Everyone takes a long, collective sigh of relief. Almost as soon as he does, Konoe winces as the aches in his arms and legs become all the more pronounced. When he looks into the kitchen, he sees Bardo giving him a weary grin, and is unable to resist giving a bright (albeit tired) smile back. Somehow, they’ve gotten through Christmas successfully (with only minor injuries sustained by staff). All that’s left now is cleanup.

Konoe’s relief is dashed when Rin hands him a broom and dust pan.

“Sorry Konoe,” he says, as though the smile on his face doesn’t betray his words, “it’s your turn to sweep the floor and stack the chairs.”

Both he and Rin are more than aware that it’s the least desirable job at the moment. He’ll inevitably end up the last to go, since everything else has to be done before the chairs can be stacked against the tables. 

But turns are turns and he isn’t exactly in any position to say no to the floor manager. Konoe accepts the broom with a sigh, resigned to an even longer night than originally anticipated. 

He bids goodbye to his coworkers as they wish him a good night one by one, duties finished. By the time he’s finally able to start stacking the chairs, only he, Aoba, and Bardo are left, with Aoba polishing the last of the washed glasses. Bardo is in the back, getting ready to leave Konoe assumes. 

Once Aoba finishes putting the glasses away, he waves at Konoe with a yawn.

“Good work today,” he says, flashing him a friendly smile as he slips his jacket on. Konoe gives a tired one back.

“You too, good night Aoba.”

“Good night- oh but before you leave, you should check the break room,” Aoba says, and something about his smile makes Konoe feel more than a little suspicious, fur on his tail standing straight up.

Before Konoe can question him though, Aoba gives him a nod and runs off to the back door, quick to make his exit. 

Konoe stands there, speechless, before cocking his head in confusion. Once he gets his bearings together, he makes quick work of the last few chairs. He has no idea what Aoba could have been teasing him about. He’s not exactly excited to find out either, considering Aoba’s usual shenanigans. With a sigh, he grabs his coat and bag, having set them aside in the dining room earlier, in hopes that he could leave as quickly as possible. 

He nearly considers just saying goodbye to Bardo before leaving, but curiosity leads him to the break rom. With a slow, cautious motion, he turns the handle and takes a peak inside, ears twitching in curiosity.

The room itself isn’t the largest, but it’s spacious enough for its purpose. It has all the necessities: a row of lockers for employees to store their personal belongings, a couch, a few chairs, a table, and a microwave.

Konoe’s eyes widen when he’s met with a completely different sight than he expected. The simple wooden table now has a white table cloth draped over it- though that isn’t nearly the most striking thing about the set up. There are all sorts of plates set about, most notably of roasted and fried chicken, as well as a beautiful cake. It's similar to the look of their popular strawberry cakes, though it looks to be topped with kuims instead.

Bardo is leaning over the table, carefully adding a few final garnishes to the dishes. When he deems his work satisfying, he looks over his shoulder, breaking into a smile the instant he notices Konoe peaking through.

“Konoe! Come in,” he says, straightening up, “good work today!”

Konoe takes a tentative step inside, gently allowing the door to close behind him, “ah, you too,” he says, struggling to find the words he actually wants to say, “...This… is-?” 

He finds himself at a loss, cheeks feeling hot. He's pretty sure he knows what's going on but…

“You must be tired,” Bardo says, once Konoe's voice trails off. He walks over and places his hand on Konoe's back, giving him a soft push and guiding him towards the table. His palm feels warm and large on Konoe's back, and somehow quite comforting.

With perhaps more enthusiasm than necessary, he pulls out a chair for Konoe and nods towards it with a grin, bowing as though he’s some sort of guest of honor. Konoe shakes his head before taking a seat. In front of him, a plate, cutlery, and elegantly folded napkin are already set. 

Bardo takes his own seat perpendicular to Konoe. Having had time to get his thoughts in order, Konoe clears his throat.

“You didn't have to do all of this,” he says. As upbeat as Bardo is acting, he’s still in his uniform, as is Konoe. It’s almost distressing to think that Bardo did all this while no doubt feeling just as ready to pass out as Konoe. 

“I wanted to,” Bardo replies without hesitation, while helps to uncoil some of the unease in the pit of Konoe's stomach, “of course we can't take such an important day off, but I still wanted to have a Christmas date with you.”  
Konoe feels like his face is on fire. He'll never understand how Bardo can be so honest and forward without a lick of doubt or shame. It somehow makes it even more difficult to admit that he'd also been disappointed that they wouldn't be able to spend this holiday together. It's a silly notion in the first place after all, looking forward to something as simple as a dinner.

And yet, there's a tingling in Konoe's chest, an excitement he can't quite push down.

“Come on, help yourself before it gets cold,” Bardo says. He contradicts his own words by grabbing Konoe’s plate himself and serving him a little bit of everything. 

While Konoe is quick to prove that he’s independent, he’s become used to letting Bardo take the reins when it comes to cooking. Bardo takes great pride in his (admittedly) delicious food, and Konoe has learned to trust him with it.

Konoe quietly thanks him when he hands the plate back. He starts to nibble on a small piece of breaded chicken, eyes widening at the taste. His exhaustion is so powerful he hadn’t even been aware he was hungry until that first bite. He starts going for larger, more generous mouthfuls, sampling a bit of everything. After working all day his stomach is begging for food, and nothing is quite as tasty as Bardo’s cooking.

“Is it good?”

Konoe’s ears twitch, and looks up at the sound of Bardo’s voice. Bardo’s food appears untouched so far. He himself is simply looking over at Konoe, chin resting against his hand. There’s a confidence in the smirk he’s wearing, as though he knows it’s good.

(Of course he does, after all he’s the head chef here isn’t he?)

That sort of smugness always hits a nerve for Konoe. He furrows his brows, but he’s not going to be rude when Bardo did all this for him, so he concedes, “it’s delicious.”

“Glad to hear it,” Bardo says, pausing for a moment, “oh, hold still for a second.”

Konoe blinks in confusion as Bardo leans across the table. His mind goes blank as he reaches for Konoe’s chin and tilts his head up. Bardo moves close enough that their noses brush against each other, gliding his tongue along the space next to Konoe’s mouth, licking his lips immediately after.

“You got some sauce on you.”

“I-idiot,” god Konoe just cannot fathom Bardo for the life of him sometimes, “you could have just told me!”

“But you looked so tasty~”

Bardo swiftly retreats to his seat with a laugh when Konoe swipes at him with his claws drawn.

The rest of the meal is passed by a similar atmosphere, with Bardo’s teasing and Konoe’s embarrassed replies, until Konoe’s belly is pleasantly full, and he feels a mixture of sleepiness and contentment. They’ve finished off most of the main dishes, and now Bardo is trying to feed Konoe some of his kuim cake.

“I can eat it myself,” Konoe says, though he’s already resigned himself to the fork approaching.

“Come on, say ahh~”

Konoe draws the line there, refusing to make this any cheesier than it needs to be. He opens his mouth and leans in to take a bite. Bardo happily feeds him the forkful of cake. The cake itself is a lightly sweetened vanilla, highlighted by the sweet and sour kuims mixed in, and a generous heap of cream. Konoe takes care to lick off the excess icing on his lips, lest Bardo take this excuse to clean it off himself. 

Bardo himself looks slightly disappointed by Konoe’s cleanup. Unable to handle the pout on his face, Konoe digs his fork into the cake and holds it up to Bardo. His mood instantly brightens, the light quickly returning to his eyes. Of course he has to make some comment about how food tastes better when Konoe feeds it to him. Konoe replies that he shouldn’t speak while chewing. 

Konoe can’t even imagine what time is now, inwardly grateful that Bardo’s place is within walking distance. While Bardo takes care to cut the cake into proper slices so they can stop simply scooping into it as they were previously, Konoe discretely reaches down and pats his bag, taking care to lift the flap open. He fishes around the inside before coming across his target, slowly lifting it onto his lap.

He bites at his lip before taking a deep breath. Now or never. Konoe clears his throat, catching Bardo’s attention at once.

“Uhm, this,” Konoe fumbles for the words, giving up after a few seconds and simply holding the box out to Bardo, “it’s for you.”

He wants to kick himself for how awkward he is. He hadn’t even planned on staying to watch Bardo open it, simply thinking he’d pass it off to him before leaving, but seeing as how far Bardo went to treat him, he feels he has to return the favour somehow. 

Bardo himself seems to be the most surprised by this turn of events, eyebrows raised and speechless. It takes a second to compose himself, but he takes the package out of Konoe’s hands.

“Konoe… can I open it?”

“If you want.”

Konoe hopes it doesn’t look completely stupid. If he’s totally honest with himself, the wrapping is messy and not the most attractive- he’d struggled with it for a while before having Aoba help him clean it up last minute.

Regardless, Bardo takes care with it, undoing the sloppy ribbon and tearing the wrapping paper away. Bardo lets out a soft sound when he sees what it is. Konoe had struggled with the weeks leading up, until a cook book had caught his eye. It’s supposedly a classic that novice and expert chefs can enjoy alike. At least, it is according to person at the store, as Konoe himself wouldn’t really know. 

“Is… is it okay?” Konoe asks, the silence doing nothing but elevating his nerves. 

“Konoe, come here,” Bardo says, beckoning him over. Konoe is ready to point out that Bardo hasn’t actually answered his question, but instead he stands up and steps over, heart pounding.

Bardo tugs Konoe closer, easing him on to his lap. Konoe rests his hands on Bardo’s shoulder, nervous despite the soft smile on Bardo’s face.

“It’s perfect,” Bardo says, giving Konoe a quick kiss on the nose, “you’re perfect,” he tilts his head to get at Konoe’s lips, peppering them with short, gentle kisses. 

Konoe vaguely registers the sound of Bardo placing the book back on the table, too distracted by the tongue poking at his lips for entry- the feel of Bardo’s hands running through his hair, over his back- and the tail wrapped around his own. It’s when he lets out an embarrassing sigh that he remembers just where they are. He instantly pulls back, a thread of saliva snapping as he pulls their lips apart. He grabs at Bardo’s hands, which have already partly unbuttoned his shirt, and gasps.

“we’re still in the café-“

“It’s fine,” Bardo purrs, leaning in to kiss and lick at Konoe’s neck, “no one’s going to come in now.”

“Y-you-“ Konoe shudders as Bardo’s beard tickles against his neck, “p-perverted cat…”

He supposes he’ll let Bardo have his fun here, just this once.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my SS gift for Barudo. I had a lot of fun with this, I love barukono so much hehe


End file.
